Louisiana Tech edges Texas State in wild offensive scoring contest

Updated 12:01 am, Sunday, November 11, 2012

SAN MARCOS — Early in the fourth quarter, Texas State was matching Louisiana Tech yard for yard, point for point. Huge underdogs, the Bobcats were poised to shock the No. 20 team in the nation.

But in the end, the Bulldogs simply refused to be outscored. So what else is new?

Louisiana Tech broke a tie with touchdowns on its final two drives to lift the Bulldogs to 62-55 victory Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in a wildly entertaining game that lasted more than four hours.

Texas State scored late to pull within a touchdown but failed to recover an onside kick in the final minute.

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“What a game,” a drained Bobcats coach Dennis Franchione said afterward. “It seemed like it lasted a day and a half. But I'm proud of the guys. They fought their tails off.”

The teams combined for 1,201 yards of total offense and 117 points. In other words, a pretty normal game for the Bulldogs (9-1, 4-0 Western Athletic Conference), whose only loss came at the hands of Texas A&M 59-57 in Ruston, La., on Oct. 13.

Texas State (3-6, 1-3) led much of the first half in a seesaw opening 30 minutes. Louisiana Tech outscored the Bobcats 27-20 in a frenetic second quarter to lead 41-34 at halftime.

The Bulldogs, No. 2 in the nation in scoring, drove 75 yards in 14 plays to open the second half to take a two-touchdown lead.

But after two three-and-outs for the Bobcats, Louisiana Tech put together two long drives to put the game out of reach.

“I don't think a shootout was in the script,” Franchione said. “But we hung in there. We didn't hold serve there a couple times in the fourth quarter. In a game like this, that makes a big difference.”

“We knew coming in that we were going to get a good shot from Texas State,” Bulldogs coach Sonny Dykes said. “I was impressed with their offense. They did a good job of keeping us off-balance all night.”